San Francisco will become the first city in California to allow non-citizens to cast ballots in local elections if voters pass Proposition D on the November ballot.

Two other ballot measures also could change the way San Francisco votes. Proposition E would allow citizens to register to vote in municipal elections right up to election day, while Proposition I would open all polling places on the Saturday before the 2011 city election.

But it's noncitizen voting that's drawing the most attention. Prop. D, backed by all but two members of the Board of Supervisors, will let noncitizens who are parents, guardians or caregivers of public school students vote in school board elections. A similar measure, Proposition F, failed, 49 percent to 51 percent, in November 2004.

"This is about education and parental involvement," said board President David Chiu, who ran the unsuccessful 2004 campaign. "About 1 in 3 students in the San Francisco district have at least one immigrant parent, and they should have a say in their children's education."

But passing Prop. D might be the easy part. In a memo to the board, City Attorney Dennis Herrera reportedly warned that the attempt to legalize noncitizen voting stands on shaky legal ground.

"We got advice from the city attorney that this will end up in court and that it's more likely than not that we will lose," said Supervisor Sean Elsbernd, who joined Supervisor Carmen Chu as the two dissenters when the board voted to put Prop. D on the ballot. "It's not a terrible policy, but I'm not interested in passing something only to have to spend the money to lose in court."

While Herrera declined to talk about the memo, citing attorney-client privilege, he warned the board in 2004 that the nearly identical Prop. F probably was unconstitutional.

"There is a substantial likelihood that a court would conclude that the amendment conflicts with the California Constitution and is therefore invalid," Herrera's 2004 memo said.

Chiu thought Herrera was wrong in 2004 and hasn't changed his mind.

"This is an area of law where there has been a lot of study in recent years," he said. "There are a number of points that strongly suggest (Prop. D) is absolutely constitutional."

Noncitizens issue

Because noncitizens only would be allowed to vote in the school board election, city election officials will have to develop special procedures before the November 2012 vote. The most likely solution will be to have noncitizens register through the school board and vote only by mail, said John Arntz, the city's election director.

Allowing noncitizens to vote could boost election costs by $100,000 to $150,000, according to city Controller Ben Rosenfield.

The cost is a real question for Prop. I, which would use the November 2011 election as a pilot program for Saturday voting. Opening the polls on both Saturday and Tuesday could cost the city an extra $1.7 million, the city controller said.

The logistics of having two election days three days apart are daunting, Arntz said. Since it would be impossible to collect the voting machines and other materials after the Saturday voting and return them by Tuesday, the city would have to find a way to guarantee that all 409 polling places are kept secure from Saturday to Tuesday.

But Alex Tourk, the local political consultant behind the measure, believes San Francisco can take the lead in boosting voter turnout by allowing people to go to the polls on Saturday without having to worry about work. It would also allow families to educate their children about elections and voting, he said.

The cost question is moot, Tourk added,because the measure calls for the one-time Saturday vote to be paid for by private donations. Without sufficient private contributions to cover the cost, the Saturday voting won't happen.

Same-day registration

Prop. E is another measure that will affect only local elections. For those elections, the state's 15-day registration deadline will be suspended and residents can register right up to election day, when they arrive at the polls.

"Eight states and the District of Columbia already allow election-day registration, and they report that turnout has risen an average of 5 percent," said Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, who helped put the measure on the ballot.

Elsbernd and Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier oppose the measure, arguing that the estimated $424,000 cost is too high and that it opens the way for potential voter fraud.